Tennessee’s search for a head football coach a hot topic in New York

Phillip Fulmer follows University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport, right, into a press conference, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Knoxville, Tenn., where he was named athletic director at the university. The university placed former AD John Currie on paid leave amid what has been a tumultuous and embarrassing football coaching search. (Calvin Mattheis/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP) Phillip Fulmer follows University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport, right, into a press conference, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Knoxville, Tenn., where he was named athletic director at the university. The university placed former AD John Currie on paid leave amid what has been a tumultuous and embarrassing football coaching search. (Calvin Mattheis/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)

By David Cobb December 6, 2017 5 min read

UPDATE: Just before 10 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN reported that Tennessee was in the process of trying to finalize a coaching deal with Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt.

___

ORIGINAL STORY: KNOXVILLE – The University of Tennessee’s search for a football coach stayed mostly quiet Wednesday, the day after three Southeastern Conference defensive coordinators emerged as front-runners for the job.

Athletic director Phillip Fulmer was expected to return to Knoxville on Wednesday from New York, where he was attending the National Football Foundation’s annual awards banquet and interviewing candidates to be the Volunteers’ next head coach.

Some of Fulmer’s new peers in college athletics have also been in New York, but for a different reason. The 2017 Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum is being held this week, drawing athletic administrators from around the country. Panelists who addressed the topic of Tennessee’s recent turmoil at the conference on Wednesday offered rebukes of a coaching search saga that resulted in Fulmer replacing John Currie as AD last week.